At this meeting, organised within the scope of the Turkey Culture Road Festival, Italian teams working in collaboration with Turkish institutions to contribute to historical heritage talked about the excavations they carried out in important archaeological sites, findings and goals.
Focusing on Italy's contributions to archaeological studies in Türkiye in terms of education, research and excavations, the 16th Italian Cultural Centre Archaeology Symposium brought together history and archaeology enthusiasts at ANAMED on October 4, 2025.
Organised under the auspices of the Italian Embassy in Ankara, with the initiatives of Salvatore Schirmo, Director of the Istanbul Italian Cultural Centre, and Giorgio Marrapodi, Italian Ambassador, the symposium took place this year within the scope of the Turkey Cultural Route Festival in collaboration with the Research Centre for Anatolian Civilisations (ANAMED).
The event, which provided Italian archaeologists working with their Turkish colleagues on a vast heritage scattered across Turkish territory with the opportunity to compare the results of their fieldwork, was organised this year under the main title of "Phenomena and Processes of Cultural Interaction between Research and Evaluation of Archaeological Heritage in Anatolia."
At the meeting, widely recognised by the international world of science, academia, and culture, archaeologists working at important archaeological sites such as Arslantepe, Hierapolis, Carchemish, Kültepe, Uşaklı Mound, Porsuk-Zeyve Mound, Hattusa, Tripolis, and Tokalı Church participated as speakers and shared the results of their work and the latest discoveries in the field with the participants.
The 16th Italian Cultural Center Archaeology Symposium, which holds great significance for cultural diplomacy between the two countries, began with a special opening reception at the Venetian Palace on the evening of October 3rd, with the participation of political, diplomatic, and academic officials and scholars such as Italian Ambassador Giorgio Marrapodi; Salvatore Schirmo, Director of the Italian Cultural Center in Istanbul; Hatice Oya Tunga Çağlı, Director General of Bilateral Relations at the Turkish Ministry of Foreign Affairs; Maria Tripodi, Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation at the Italian Ministry of Foreign Affairs; Nihal Metin, Director of the Excavations Department at the Ministry of Culture and Tourism; and Chris Roosevelt, Director of the ANAMED.
The academic sessions of the symposium took place at ANAMED on Saturday, October 4th, free of charge and open to the public. The first part of the daylong sessions, focusing on prehistory and prohistory, was moderated by Koç University Associate Professor Çiğdem Maner; the second part, focusing on the classical and Byzantine periods, was moderated by MSGSÜ Professor Günder Varinlioğlu. Anacleto D'Agostino also gave an expert lecture on the ongoing Uşaklı Mound Excavation in Yozgat.
The findings shared at the 16th Italian Cultural Centre Archaeology Symposium, where speeches were delivered with simultaneous translation into Italian and Turkish, will also be compiled into a book in the coming days, and a recording of the symposium will be published on the Italian Cultural Centre's YouTube page.